Giappone - Inglese

Japan's old age prisoners

[Guardian unlimited World]

The 70 or so ageing inmates at Onomichi prison represent the biggest challenge to Japan's criminal justice in decades. The over 60s are the fastest-growing group of criminals in Japan, which incarcerates its pensioners at a rate far higher than any other country on the industrialised world. They now account for more than 12% of the total prison population, prompting the government to build three new wards. Photographs by Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert